Stilp's latest bit of wackiness is titled "Ed, Please Don't Eat The Groundhog. Save Punxsutawney Phil." Stilip's been handing out bumper stickers that say that all over the state Capitol. Groundhog Day is Monday.

"The governor's visit to the recent Farm Show was like Sherman's March to the Sea," said Stilp, a vegetarian. "The governor cut a gastronomic path a mile wide through the place No species was safe."

Rendell was indeed spotted throwing out a milkshake at the farm show, raising reporters' eyebrows until his staff explained he had been eating all day.

Stilp, a former legislative staffer, wants the governor to eat in moderation, cut back in high-cholesterol foods and head off a future heart attack. It's been a relentless campaign.

Last year Stilp handed out buttons saying: "No Cheesesteaks for Governor Rendell." He has described the lieutenant governor as one cheesesteak away from the governor's mansion.

In December, he tested the state first lady's "Sweet Dream" Christmas cookie recipe and publicly deemed it a "nutritional nightmare."

"It is true that I said that this is the only governor that let his food ordering control the budget," Stilp said. "Remember, he ordered a "double budget.' "

John M.R. Bull

GETTING CROWDED

OK, so everybody knows that Pennsylvania's the sixth-most-populous state in the nation, right? Well, all those people have to work somewhere.

And, according to a new report, many of them work in the state Legislature.

Pennsylvania's 253-member General Assembly has 2,947 people working as permanent support staff -- the second-highest number in the nation. That's 11.6 staffers for every state representative and senator, according to research by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Pennsylvania has one of the largest state legislatures in the nation.

The Denver-based think tank recently ranked the 10 state legislatures with the most and least staff. New York, with 3,428 staff, ranked first. South Dakota, with 49, has the least.

According to the NCSL, there are 11,137 more people working as permanent support staff to state legislatures nationwide since 1960. The number of session-only staff in states with part-time legislatures, meanwhile, has shrunk by 3,150 people.

"In general, large population states tended to have the most legislative staff with legislatures in more rural states having the fewest," the think tank concluded.

John L. Micek

OUGHTA BE A LAW

This isn't like the old saw, "There oughta be a law." This is more like, "We need an actual law for this?"

Rendell last week signed a bill that would require state troopers convicted of felonies or serious misdemeanors to be kicked off the force. It also requires those accused of such crimes to be suspended.

The bill, dubbed the Confidence in Law Enforcement Act, was sparked by revelations that some state troopers have been allowed to continue their duties, at full pay, after being charged or convicted of crimes.

In some cases, firings were appealed and overturned by arbitrators.

No more.

"Until now, the law made it possible for a convicted member to appeal any disciplinary action imposed and in a few cases, convicted members were allowed to continue to serve," Rendell said in signing the bill into law. "This legislation closes that loophole. Reinstating officers who have been charged with serious crimes erodes the public's faith and trust."